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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26596165">it's easy to leave a party you aren't at</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JynErsoinNYC/pseuds/JynErsoinNYC'>JynErsoinNYC</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Congrats Zendaya for your Emmy win!, F/M, I too would make toast at a house party, Just MJ's POV from the party in Homecoming, MJ is an absolute MOOD, MJ knows something's UP, MJ putting together the pieces of the Peter Parker puzzle, Secret Crush, Spider-Man: Homecoming Compliant, awkward friendships, socially awkward MJ</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:08:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,279</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26596165</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JynErsoinNYC/pseuds/JynErsoinNYC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>MJ doesn't expect much, going to Liz's party...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Michelle Jones &amp; Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones &amp; Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>it's easy to leave a party you aren't at</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>"What are you going to wear?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle shrugged. "This."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It's a party," her dad frowned. "You should dress up.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> "A house party," Michelle reasoned, tying her hair back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He picked something from her closet. "What about this?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle's freshman-year homecoming dress. It was frills and ruffles, and not really her thing anymore.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> "Too prom," she said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> "Wear it over your shirt. It'll make it more…edgy." He said it tentatively, like edgy might have been the wrong word to describe her fashion style. "When your mother made this, it wasn’t to stuff away in your closet after one wear."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle stood from her seat and went over to her dad. "I know…I'll wear it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He grinned and left the room. She zipped up the dress over her long-sleeve black Tee and shoved her feet into her black high-tops. She briefly looked in her mirror.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> It was edgy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>///</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There had been no direct invitation to Liz's party, but Michelle had made the decision to come anyway. No one would really notice. And if someone did, they wouldn’t care.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The drive was twenty minutes. She was worried she was early until a crowd of kids she had never cared to know arrived and stormed Liz's house. Good. She didn’t do early. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'll be waiting at ten," her dad said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle walked around the back and immediately blended into the party. She hid well in plain sight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She had been to Liz's house once before, in elementary school, when Liz had invited all the girls in her class to a sleepover. While they had watched Leonardo DiCaprio movies and gossiped about boys, Michelle had burrowed into her sleeping bag with a flashlight and read a book about American history.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle kind of wished she had a book now. The party was boring: Flash's DJ skills were terrible, and the only conversation was about homecoming dates and the Tiger's final game next weekend.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She skipped the pizza which was sitting cold and damp next to the swimming pool and went into the kitchen. She found a loaf of bread and started making toast, content on cooking her dinner in someone else's house. As she was spreading margarine on top she noticed Peter and Ned appear in the hallway next to her. Admittedly, she was surprised to see them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> Michelle put down the butter knife. "I can't believe you guys are at this lame party.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> They turned abruptly, apparently just as surprised to see her standing there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"But you're here too," Ned said, his face scrunching. For some reason, he was wearing a hat. A really…ugly hat. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle frowned. "Am I?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She took a bite of toast and left them standing there. She could feel Peter looking after her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Why had she said that? </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She’d never admit it, but sometimes she secretly wished that the three of them were friends. But when she said cynical things like that, it just reminded her why they weren't.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle sat down on the couch with her toast. The couple that had previously been making-out had vacated it, the girl storming off in a fit of tears.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle snickered and picked up a magazine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Flash started mocking Peter across the room about the Spider-Man. She remembered gym in fifth period, when she had been torn away from her book-bench pressing as everyone went quiet. School was rarely quiet, so it startled her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter had been adamantly refusing he knew Spider-Man to Liz, but finally relented and said he did through his internship with Tony Stark.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle listened now as Flash brought up Peter's imaginary girlfriend from freshman year. She watched Peter grow sullen from behind her magazine. He whispered something to Ned and disappeared down the hallway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She sat up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter was always disappearing. Always missing. And Michelle was curious about where he went, even though she couldn’t really say why.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle stood and approached Ned. He was leaning a bit too casually against the wall, sipping a soda. She could tell he was waiting for something.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Where did Peter go, Ned?" Michelle asked, crossing her arms as she snuck up on him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ned jumped, soda sloshing in his cup. He looked at her. "I-I don’t know."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Oh, okay then. Where did he go during sixth period today?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ned swallowed. "Uh, bathroom I think."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter hadn't taken a hall pass, and he hadn't returned to class.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle narrowed her gaze. "Mm, alright. What's the real reason he isn't coming to D.C.?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ned sipped his drink nervously. "He has the…Stark internship."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Like last time, right? And during the state finals? And at practice every other day?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Why do you care?" Ned exclaimed suddenly, pushing off the wall. "Why are you so obsessed with him?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle took a step back, startled. "I-I'm not.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Really," Ned said, looking at her victoriously. "So you're not always sitting next to him in class, or gym - pretending to read a book when you're actually eavesdropping."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle opened and closed her mouth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ned continued. "And why do you know when and where Peter comes and goes, or that he quit marching band and robotics lab?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle stared at Ned. "I guess I'm just observant," she managed to say, then walked away quickly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, that had not gone the way she thought it would. Defensive, much? He was right, of course, about all of it, but she didn’t care. Now she knew something was up. Best friends always covered for each other like that. At least, she was pretty sure that's what they did.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle decided to leave early. She messaged her dad she was catching the train, then left the boring party in the nice house behind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>///</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The streets were shadowy and quiet, lit by lampposts and porch lights.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle knew the station was several blocks away. She kicked stones as she walked. She would have waited to see if Peter returned, but didn’t want to give Ned another reason to think she was weird.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A loud crash rumbled down the street. She turned but didn’t see anything. She wasn’t worried. Liz lived in the nicer neighbourhoods of Queens.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle looked down at her phone. It read eight o'clock. When she looked back up, she noticed a black cat sitting on top of a brick wall across the street. She smiled. She liked cats.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She was about to cross over and pet it when a white van suddenly skidded around the corner and came tearing down the quiet street. One of its rear doors swung open.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>What the-</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle watched it fly past, taking the next corner at a vicious swerve. She heard a shout and a scream close by. Another crash. Something was definitely wrong.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She began to speed walk, cutting between two houses. The station was only three blocks away. She reached the end of the narrow alleyway –</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Something swung past. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It whipped through the air, right in front of her, and flung high up into the night.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle ducked on instinct, searching around for the shape. It landed in a sprint further down the street before it was whisked back into the air again. She ran out onto the road, watching the shadow swing down the street, invisible in the night sky but perfectly visible under the lamplight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A man in red and blue.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was gone almost instantly, disappearing around the corner.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A glisten caught Michelle’s eye. She looked up at the nearest lamppost and saw the shimmer of pale webbing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Holy shit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michelle stood in the middle of the deserted road, staring after the Spider-Man.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> ///</p>
<p>It was suspicious, Michelle thought again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She grabbed an iced tea from the fridge and slumped onto her bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Very suspicious.</p>
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